Editorial | Kentucky pension bill headed to Hades

At this point in the 2013 General Assembly, it appears to be paved with the 191 pages of Senate Bill 2, the so-called pension "reform" bill - which offers a lot of changes but absolutely no way to pay for the projected $18 billion shortfall in the state's public pension systems.

Instead, the bill expresses the "intent" for the General Assembly to start putting in its fair share of the pension money starting in 2015.

Right. Lawmakers probably intended to contribute the state's full share for the last 14 years - but found it easier to avoid the obligation in order to use the money to plug other holes in the budget.

They did this by exempting themselves from rules every other party, including cities, counties and the employees themselves, must follow when it comes to contributing a fixed amount to the state public pension system.

Through a gimmick familiar to most budget wonks, lawmakers dodged their duty to pay the full amount to keep the pension plan solvent, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul.

And the current SB 2 offers nothing to prevent lawmakers from doing the exact same thing in future years - despite its good intentions to begin full funding, starting in 2015 with $120 million in General Fund money.

Sen. Damon Thayer, a Georgetown Republican and sponsor of SB2, continues to argue SB2 will work and must be passed this session to convince the public lawmakers are serious about a solution.

"We think we can pay for pensions with existing revenue if we make the tough choices we were sent up here to make," he told The Courier-Journal.

Um, senator - if legislators had been willing to make tough choices for the past 14 years, the pension plan wouldn't be in this mess.

But it is, and kicking the can into 2015 won't solve any problems.

House leaders appear rightly skeptical, including House Speaker Greg Stumbo, a Prestonsburg Democrat who calls any pension bill "a hallucination" if it doesn't include a means to provide additional money it will cost to erase the shortfall.

Mr. Stumbo and other members of his party in the House say they are considering finding some source of revenue to pay the state's share - such as a sales tax on lottery tickets or 40-cent increase in the cigarette tax, which would bring it to $1 a pack.

The cigarette tax could generate as much as $100 million a year for at least 20 years until Kentuckians wise up and stop smoking, which looks like a win-win situation for everyone.

SB2 has some other flaws, in addition to the funding fiction.

It restructures the current defined benefit pension system into a "hybrid" plan most workers don't want, could eliminate cost-of-living increases and may end up costing the state millions more rather than resulting in any savings.

And also - the legislative task force that spent months last year examining solutions to the pension problem gave short shrift to advocates for some 340,000 active and retired public employees who have a voice in the matter. Members of a group called Kentucky Public Pension Coalition say that after the task force met for months, they got only a few minutes each at the last meeting to present views of state workers, firefighters, police, teachers and others with a stake in this.

Mr. Stumbo has said at this juncture it may take a special legislative session to get any pension bill passed, especially one that includes a way to pay for it. That's because under legislative rules, any revenue measures voted on in odd-numbered (non-budget) years require a "super-majority" of three-fifths of the lawmakers to pass.

Though everyone claims to hate special sessions, because of the cost and inconvenience, this might be the best route to a realistic bill that doesn't skirt the funding issue.

Action on the matter is expected to accelerate this week, with the House likely to produce its version of a pension bill.

Before taking any action lawmakers should identify a way to pay for the pension shortfall.

And they should listen to the folks who are affected - the workers themselves. Though the pension changes would affect only new hires, their members have substantial experience and understanding of the system.

What lawmakers must not do is rush through an empty shell of a bill and go away bragging they've fixed the problem.

Louisville, Kentucky • Southern Indiana

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Editorial | Kentucky pension bill headed to Hades

We all know what the road to hell is paved with. At this point in the 2013 General Assembly, it appears to be paved with the 191 pages of Senate Bill 2, the so-called pension ?reform? bill ? which